Archive for 27 diciembre 2011

We’ve all been there: that once in a lifetime moment is happening right before your eyes, and your only means of capturing it is with your phone’s camera. By the time you get it out of your pocket, unlock it, get to the homescreen, launch the camera app, and wait for the camera to boot up, the moment is gone. Opportunity lost, and now everyone is mad at you.

As of iOS 5, you can access the camera right from the lockscreen (you don’t even have to unlock it! Don’t worry, though: you can’t access your older photos this way. Your booty pics are safe.)

To quick-jump to the camera: from the lock screen (the screen with the “Slide to unlock” bar), double tap the home button. You’ll see music controls pop up on top, while a camera icon appears directly beside the unlock bar. Tap that, and you’re immediately inside the camera. (Note: this only seems to work on the iPhone and camera-enabled iPod Touches. It’s a no go on iPad.)

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Over the last few years there have been numerous happy ending stories about lost / stolen iPads and iPhones recovered thanks to Location Services and the Find My iPhone app within MobileMe. The app is now free as well, so it’s a great tool to have just in case your iPad or iPhone is ever misplaced or stolen.

In order for Find My iPhone to work, Location Services must be turned on on the missing device; and many people have pointed out that a tech-savvy thief might quickly turn off the service once they get their hands on your iDevice.

Luckily, there’s a way to make that a much bigger challenge for a thief, and it’s simple to implement.

To make life a whole bunch harder for a thief who wants to turn off Location Services, you can use Restrictions from within the Settings app. Here’s how:

– Launch the Settings app.

– Go to the General section and look for Restrictions on the right hand side. Turn Restrictions On if you haven’t already done so. (these can be useful in a number of areas, take a browse around the available restrictions)

– Once you enable restrictions, look at the second section listed – Allow Changes. Tap on Location and choose ‘Don’t Allow Changes’.

Now if your iPad ever does end up in the wrong hands the thief would have to crack your passcode to be able to turn off Location Services.

There are of course ways round this, but just as with opportunistic thieves and home break-ins, the more difficult you make it, the better your chances are.

One downside to be aware of when making this change is that once it’s made when you install a new app that wants to use your location, you’ll need to go back and allow changes, allow that app to use the services, and then turn the restriction back on.